Toby Harnden was the Daily Telegraph's US Editor, based in Washington DC, from 2006 to 2011. Click here for Toby's website. Follow him on Twitter here @tobyharnden and on Facebook here. He is the author of the bestselling book Dead Men Risen: The Welsh Guards and the Defining Story Britain's War in Afghanistan.

Rubio Republicans, not Romney Republicans, hold key to 2012

I've just got back from a trip to Florida, where I saw Al Gore stumping for Kendrick Meek, the struggling Democratic candidate, and an event in which Mitt Romney stumped for Marco Rubio, the Tea Party-backed Republican candidate. Here's my Sunday Telegraph column about how what's going on right now is affecting the 2012 Republican field:

In the land of the permanent campaign, there's no need to wait for an election to be over before getting on with the next one.

With a month until polling day in 2010, President Barack Obama, anticipating disaster, has already started his post-election reshuffle.

And in Florida, Republicans, content they've got a Senate seat in the bag, are salivating about 2012 and the chance to knock Obama off his perch.